


count of freezyburg

by JayQueenofHugs (bifangirl)



Series: Dimension 20 Character Studies [3]
Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24169225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bifangirl/pseuds/JayQueenofHugs
Summary: He's always been an outsider.
Series: Dimension 20 Character Studies [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740490
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	count of freezyburg

**Author's Note:**

> A Liam character study for all of you! (Spoilers for ACoC 5)

Liam spends most of his early childhood feeling alone in a family of too many brothers. Being the youngest child and growing up in a family in open rebellion against the Concord makes it hard for him to make friends. Not to mention his brothers, Grash especially, making a lot of his life a living hell. Liam doesn’t quite feel like he fits in with them, sometimes he thinks he might be adopted. So instead of staying at home, he spends a lot of his time wandering through the woods, exploring nature. And after not too long, he meets a peppermint piglet that he names Preston, the two of them spend so much time wandering through nature and looking for rare seeds. At the end of the day, Liam doesn’t quite want to return to his family. _He’s always been an outsider._

When Liam first arrives in Castle Candy, he’s immediately intimidated by how big it is, by how high-status everyone in the castle is. There are so many people rushing around and very few of them pay him any attention and, despite the fact that he should be used to it by now, it makes him feel very small. Sir Theo is one of the few people who talks to him at all. And when Liam goes out into the woods to explore and look for seeds, he always makes sure to leave Theo a note. He only kind of misses his dad and he doesn’t miss his brothers in any way, the letter from Grash only solidifies that. Somehow, even though he’s a prisoner, the castle feels a bit more like home, even with everyone rushing by him constantly. _He’s always been an outsider._

The queen asks him to walk with her and he hesitates for a second, worried about what she thinks of him. She talks to him about his “wardship” in Castle Candy, about his family, about his brothers. She tells him that he can leave the castle if he marries, but Liam doesn’t want that. He’s perfectly fine with it just being him and Preston, he doesn’t need anyone else, does he? He tells Queen Caramelinda that and tries to gauge her reaction, figure out what she thinks of him. She’s too high status, he can’t tell for certain, but he feels like there’s a strong chance she hates him. _He’s always been an outsider._

When they are talking about going to Comida, Liam isn’t expecting to be brought along. But then it’s suggested that he goes too and he’s shocked back into reality. Him? Going to Comida? He’s never been included in anything until now, he doesn’t fully know how to react. He’d barely been paying attention to the conversation at hand in the first place; he’d been growing and eating seeds to test if they were edible. So when the queen suggests he should go, his head snaps up and he stares for a blank second. He’s so glad to be included for once, but all that drains away when he realizes the only reason he’s going is because he’s “ward” to the king. Still, maybe he’ll be able to find some seeds in Comida. It’s nice to be involved in something. _He’s always been an outsider._

Then, in the banquet, Liam spots Chancellor Lapin sneaking out, and he isn’t sure why so he follows him. And it turns out that Jet noticed as well, and the two sneak along to witness Lapin talking to the Sugarplum Fairy. And Liam sees the teacup he broke and feels guilty, feels like someone will hate him for it. They’re not quite sure what’s happening in the moment, but he says something about hating the royal family and that’s enough to make them angry. When Lapin is done talking, when they sneak back to the castle, they tell Ruby about everything that happened. And then Liam is reminded how little the princesses know about him, but it’s still nice to be included in their conversation, in their secrets. _He’s always been an outsider._

They’re on their way to Comida, Liam talking to the king in the lead carriage, giving directions and knowing they could get lost. Word comes of a fallen tree blocking the road and Liam can tell something is wrong barely a second before the arrows hit. He reacts right after, looking outside and spotting bandits, taking a shot with his crossbow and then ducking back inside. The others spend the fight near King Amethar, rushing to protect him each time he falls. There’s a certain strange amount of guilt Liam feels for not doing the same, even though he knows he’s better from further away. He shakes it off fairly quickly, Grash’s words coming to his mind. He spends the rest of the fight by himself, picking off the cheese brigands with his crossbow, while the others rush to Amethar’s side. _He’s always been an outsider._

After the fight is over, Liam decides to examine the tree. He isn’t expecting to find anything all that rare but instead he finds some seeds and he thinks they might be rare. But Preston seems to want them so Liam feeds them to him and Preston flies up onto the roof, looking adorable the whole time. And then Jet comes and talks to him, asks for help with watching over Ruby, and he’s surprised that someone is talking to him rather than ignoring him or brushing him off as awkward and weird. Naturally, he agrees to help her. And then when they’re all in the carriage, when he’s convinced that Lapin hates him, the twins ask for him to join them and Theo outside! He isn’t very present in the conversation, but Theo says that wards need to stick together and he finds that he agrees. And then, after that, he’s called away to help out with more things! Sure, the king almost got killed, but he’s allowed to be happy about being included, right? _He’s always been an outsider._

Liam has fun at the banquet, drinking wine for the first time and having (or at least trying to have) conversations with other people. Sure, Theo is there forcing him to drink cola as well, and sure, Liam has a super awkward conversation with Thad about romance, but he doesn’t fully mind it. It’s a banquet and he’s not having a terrible time, he’s with other people who seem happy to be around him and he’s not locked up in Castle Candy for once. When Primsy gives the twins milk silk handkerchiefs, he feels a little left out until she makes him her champion for the archery tournament. In his head somewhere he vows to do the best he can to win, to make someone proud. _He’s always been an outsider._

Of course he enters into the archery competition as Primsy’s champion, he does it without a second thought. Primsy wants him to enter and so he does. The first round of arrows doesn’t go that well, but when everything is going wrong in the second, Liam gets a better shot off than anyone else involved. But after that, when everything has descended into chaos, he makes the choice to do everything he can to try to help the king. His magic is too obvious, people notice it, but he doesn’t care in the moment. And later, he is summoned to speak with the Emperor, and though his conversation with Anabelle is awkward, he learns something from it. She seems like she hates him, but the advice she gives him works well when talking to the Emperor, so he can’t really say for sure. _He’s always been an outsider._

He’s given a seat on the council and he thinks things might be going well for him until he’s arrested on suspicion of witchcraft. The intense fear he feels only grows with the tension in the room as Lapin stands with knights to arrest him. Liam’s glad no one is just handing him over, but he’s so scared of what’s to come from this. And then he’s arrested, but Theo offers to give up his sword and stay with him overnight, and the King Amethar promises that he’ll die before Liam is killed, and Liam thinks that they care more about him than his own brothers. _He’s always been an outsider._

And then they’re in court, but it isn’t about him. The Emperor had died overnight, the paperwork left incomplete, and they needed confirmation that the king had been named successor. When Theo stands, Liam stands too and everyone stares at him for a brief second. He belatedly remembers that he’s supposed to be on trial for witchcraft. So much for trying to help out. But then Plumbeline lies about the nomination and he can tell that something’s coming. They pull out Saint Citrina’s Book of Leaves and for a brief second Liam wonders if they were planning on using that during his trial. And then some truths come out, Amethar is excommunicated, Liam’s father becomes King of Candia, and Candia is forced out of the Concord. And before Liam can process any of that, they are at war. But this is just Liam’s life on a far larger scale. _He’s always been an outsider._

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I rushed to get this finished before the episode and it ended up being the longest one yet. It turns out I just really want to talk about Liam.


End file.
